Hachette Filipacchi Media US CEO Jack Kliger yesterday was moved to the chairman’s post of the company after a nine-year-run, and the Paris-based home office has dispatched a Frenchmen to replace him as CEO.

The new man in charge of the company that publishes Elle, Car and Driver, Road & Track and Woman’s Day is Alain Lemarchand, who’s seen as a financial executive. He was previously the equivalent of the chief operating officer at Lagardere Active in Paris.

Most observers think he will take a hard look at the company’s finances and either expand the business aggressively through acquisitions or put the entire operation on the block.

The US Hachette unit has some important magazines, but is usually considered to be below the top five magazine publishers. Under Kliger’s reign, the company has been rapidly shutting down print publications that failed to meet the mark, including Premiere and Elle Girl.